EMC, HP agree to patent case arbitration
Hewlett-Packard Co. and EMC Corp. agreed to let an arbitrator decide how much Hewlett-Packard should pay for infringing on three EMC patents related to computer data storage. A federal jury in Worcester found HP liable for infringement in May 2004, and a trial to set damages was scheduled for Feb. 16. The two sides instead agreed to ''private, binding arbitration," court documents said. The dispute centers on HP's OpenView Continuous Access Storage Appliance, which the company obtained when it bought closely held StorageApps Inc. in 2001. US District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton on Jan. 27 granted the companies' request to refer the damages issue to arbitration. Hopkinton-based EMC sued StorageApps in 2000, claiming the software used EMC's patented technology that makes mirror copies of data on systems. (Bloomberg)
Fidelity expands services, cuts fees
Fidelity Investments, the largest mutual fund company, added free stock research and reduced fees for the average investor to gain market share from the likes of ETrade Financial Corp. and Charles Schwab Corp. Customers can access independent recommendations on 4,500 stocks and evaluate the opinions of analysts on Fidelity's website. Fidelity, which also is providing online tools to help investors make trading decisions, is offering a 30-day trial to lure clients from bigger discount brokerages. The company said it increased its share of the retail brokerage market by more than 3 percentage points to 14.6 percent from October 2003 through last year. (Bloomberg)
Gas seller to exit two businesses
KeySpan Corp., the biggest natural-gas seller in the Northeast, said it recorded up to $120 million in pretax costs in the fourth quarter to exit mechanical contracting and sell a pipeline business in Northern Ireland. ''This will complete our departure from noncore and foreign businesses," said George Laskaris, a spokesman for the New York-based company. The costs include a pretax writedown of $80 million to $90 million for the contracting business, which includes Binsky Cos. and WDF Inc., the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That's in addition to a pretax writedown of $122 million in the third quarter, Laskaris said. Additional pretax costs of $25 million to $30 million were recorded for the sale of KeySpan's 50 percent ownership in Premier Transmission Ltd. in Northern Ireland, the company said. (Bloomberg)
99 High St. up for sale 3d time in 5 years
For the third time in five years, 99 High St., a 32-floor tower, is up for sale. The 730,000-square-foot office building went on the block for about $275 million, real estate executives said. The Keystone Building, as it was once known, sold in early 2000 for $168.5 million and a little over a year later for $213.5 million. It is owned by real estate funds operated by Walton Street Capital LLC and Westbrook Real Estate Partners LLC, which recently refinanced $185 million in debt on the 34-year-old building, now 92 percent leased. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP handled the refinancing, and Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Inc. is marketing the building. (Thomas C. Palmer Jr.)
Company to restate four years' earnings
Aspen Technology Inc. improperly accounted for 16 software license transactions during the fiscal years 2000 through 2002 and, as a result, it will restate results for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2000, through June 30, 2004. The company's audit committee has largely completed a transactional analysis of these particular software license deals and the company said it will book a charge to pay for the committee's inquiry. The Cambridge software and services company said the 16 transactions accounted for $18.5 million in recorded license revenue. From 2000 to 2002, the company overstated license revenue, while the opposite occurred in 2003 and 2004. Of the $915.6 million in total revenue that the company reported from 2000 to 2002, $414.2 million of that was license revenue. (Dow Jones)
THE NATION
Internet auction generating complaints
Americans are increasingly turning to Internet auction sites to buy and sell goods from around the world, and a growing number think they might be getting a raw deal online. The number of complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission over Internet auctions has nearly doubled from 51,000 in 2002 to more than 98,000 last year, the agency said in its annual report on consumer fraud and identity-theft complaints. The online complaints cover everything from the failure of sellers to deliver goods or services to consumers claiming their purchases weren't worth the price they paid. Internet auction grievances comprised 13 percent of the 403,000 total fraud complaints in 2002; in 2004, they made up 16 percent of the 635,000 grievances. (AP)
Second top official resigns from TiVo
TiVo Inc. said Marty Yudkovitz has resigned as president, marking the second major change in as many weeks in the executive ranks at the digital video-recording company. The resignation of Yudkovitz, an NBC executive who joined TiVo in May 2003, comes two weeks after chief executive Mike Ramsay said he would step down as soon as a replacement is found. Yudkovitz, who said he was leaving for personal reasons, will remain for a time as a consultant on certain matters, the company said. There are no immediate plans to replace Yudkovitz, Ramsay said. (AP)
Pfizer says it gave Celebrex data to FDA
Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drug maker, said it acted responsibly in sharing ''appropriate" safety data on its Celebrex painkiller and rejected an assertion by consumer group Public Citizen that it didn't disclose findings from a 1999 study. The study of Celebrex in Alzheimer's disease patients, which linked the drug to elevated heart risks, was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration in June 2001, Pfizer said. Part of the study was also presented at a meeting in 2000, Pfizer said. Public Citizen has said that the 1999 study was the second to show heightened risks of heart attacks and strokes. (Bloomberg)
$20m fee paid by Kozlowski called OK
Former Tyco International Ltd. chief executive L. Dennis Kozlowski didn't violate company policy when he paid a $20 million fee to a board member, a former company director testified. Prosecutors say the fee, paid to director Frank Walsh for helping arrange Tyco's 2001 purchase of CIT Group Inc., wasn't authorized by the board and amounted to theft, one of 13 larceny counts against Kozlowski and his codefendant, ex-finance chief Mark Swartz. The two men are facing the charges in a New York state court a second time following a mistrial in April. ''There is nothing that says specifically that Mr. Kozlowski can't pay an investment banking fee to a director," government witness John Fort, a former Tyco chief executive, said on cross-examination. Kozlowski agreed to pay Walsh the fee without telling the directors, Fort said. (Bloomberg)
. . .Etc.
Curis Inc. is codeveloping a skin-cancer treatment with Genentech Inc. and will share in the development costs and future profits from US sales. As a result, Cambridge-based Curis expects to incur about $20 million in research costs through phase 2 clinical trials. A portion of the estimated expenses will be booked in the first quarter. (Wire services)
